JERUSALEM – The Israeli military is developing laser weapons to defeat drones, rockets, artillery, mortars and anti-tank guided missiles, calling the effort a major research breakthrough by its Directorate of Defense Research and Development. Defense News reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

22 Jan. 2020 -- Lasers are seen as a major new frontier in combating munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The U.S. Air Force has used a Raytheon-made high-energy laser to destroy “dozens of small drones,” according to the company. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ Drone Dome can also use lasers to address drone threats. Rheinmetall’s high-energy laser has also been used against small drone swarms.

Israel has faced an array of threats in recent years, including an armed drone launched from Syria in February 2018, drones that a team attempted to launch from Syria in August 2019, as well as 2,600 rockets fired by militants based in Gaza. Israel’s multilayered air defense architecture successfully confronted these threats thus far.

Three programs involving Rafael and Elbit Systems are developing high-energy laser demonstrators. Both companies have been working on laser technology for years, but now the government wants them to focus on developing a “ground-based laser system to complement the capabilities of the Iron Dome system.”

This article by John Keller originally appeared on Military & Aerospace Electronics in 2019.

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